Trackway and side gate for folding doors and the like



July 9, 1957 D. c. HOLLOWAY TRACKWAY AND SIDE GATE FOR FOLDING DOORS AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 18, 1955 INVENTOR. $502062 0 M Z 5 @W TRACKWAY AND SIDE GATE FOR FOLDIN G DOORS AND THE LIKE Don C. Holloway, Janesville, Wis., assignor to Hough Manufacturing Corporation, a corporation of Connecticut My invention relates to a trackway and side gate for folding doors, curtains, and the like, and more particularly to a side gate for an overhead trackway.

A great many closures, such as folding doors, curtains, and the like, are commonly supported from carriers slidably mounted in an overhead track formed with a longitudinally extending groove serving as a trackway. Ordinarily, such closures hang from the overhead track within the openings, such as a doorway or Window, to be closed and are adapted to be extended and retracted in acting as a closure, with the carriers sliding along the trackway as the portion of the closure supported by the respective carriers is moved.

In accordance with prior practices, these closures are applied to the overhead track by threading the carriers into the trackway at one of the ends thereof before the track is secured in place. Experience has shown, however, that it is not always possible to thread the closure carriers in this manner before the track is secured in place, and that frequently this must be done later, with consequent inconvenience and difiiculty clue to the fact that once the track is fixed in place, very little room remains for the installer to work.

Experience has also shown that it is frequently desirable to remove a closure for adjustment, cleaning and other purposes after it has been installed. In the past the supporting overhead track had to be loosened or completely removed to expose one end of the trackway so that the door carriers could be unthreaded therefrom.

It is a principal object of this invention to provide a trackway having a side gate which allows one to secure the track in place before threading the closure carriers on the track, and which also allows one to remove the closure from the track without having to first loosen or remove the track.

A further object of the invention is to provide a plug or closure for said side gate which may be inconspicuously applied to the track, and which provides means for conspicuously securing a nameplate to the folding door or the like.

Other objects, uses and advantages will be obvious or become apparent from a consideration of the following description and drawing figures.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective View of a portion of a folding door with the invention applied to the overhead track thereof;

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view along line 2-2 of Figure 3;

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view along line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an enlarged perspective View of a portion of the overhead track, With the plug of the present invention in position to be applied thereto; and

Figure 5 is an exploded perspective view, from a different angle, of the plug and nameplate aflixed thereto.

The embodiment of the invention illustrated is particularly adapted for use in connection with a flexible ice or folding door generally indicated by reference numeral 8 including a fabric made up of upright slats 10 woven with seine cord 11. Said door operates in and is supported by the overhead track 12 through the fixtures 13.

Preferred slats for the fabric illustrated may be made of seasoned basswood, but slats of other types of wood, bamboo, or the so-called plastics and the like are satisfactory. Seine twine is generally preferred for binding these slats together because of its special suitability, but other cordage may be used.

One edge of the illustrated door 8 may be finished with an attractive molding or stile 14 and the other edge may be finished for attachment to the wall in any suitable manner.

The door may include a bow shaped clip 16 adapted to telescope over and grasp the upper ends of adjacent slats 10 and be secured thereto in any suitable manner, for instance, as by staples 17. The mid portion of the clip 16 at the bow may be notched to provide an opening 18 therethrough to accommodate an arch or bend 19 in a rod or bar 20, and the lower end of a pintle 21 is provided with an eye to receive the arched portion 19 of the rod. The upper end of the illustrated pintle 21 is fitted with a swivel glide or carrier 22 composed of a body portion 23 and an overhanging shoulder or flange '24.

The track 12 is here shown in a form especially suitable for manufacture from wood by making a length of molding and running it through arouting machine to cut a T-shaped groove 26 providing supporting rails 27 spaced by a passageway '28 of a size adapted to receive the :glides 22' as illustrated in Figure 3. The overhead track 12 is highly satisfactory when made from birch, maple, beech and similar hard wood, but may be fabricated of other materials. a

The fitting for each stile 14 may include a bow shaped clip 32 fastened by, for instance, screw 35. A pintle 36 carrying a glide similar to that carried by pintle 21 may be secured to the clip 32 by rod or bar 38.

In the past it has been customary to thread the glides or carriers into the slot 26 through one end thereof before fixing the track 12 to a ceiling or the like. When this is not done, it Will be appreciated that much difficulty is encountered in threading the glides through the end of the track, after the track has been secured in place, because of the limited space to work in. And, as mentioned hereinbefore, when it is desirable to remove the door 8 for any reason, heretofore it has been necessary to loosen or remove the track 12 so that the glides may be unthreaded from the end of slot 26 comprising the trackway.

According to the present invention, I provide a transverse slot or gate 40 having supporting rails 42 spaced by a passage 44. The slot or gate 40 is formed in the side of the track 12 and is of a size adapted to receive the glides secured to the door 8. In the illustrated embodiment, the slot or gate 40 has the same dimensions as slot 26, and I contemplate that it will be formed by a routing machine in a manner similar to the way in which slot 26 is formed.

I also provide a plug generally indicated at 46 to close the gate or slot 40. The plug 46 conforms in size and shape to the gate or slot 40 and is of such a size that it will frictionally engage the sides of slot or gate 40 as it is slipped into place. The plug comprises a relatively large body portion 48 substantially equal in size to the wide portion of slot 40 and a relatively thin depending portion 50 substantially equal in size to the passage 44. The face 52 of the plug is sloped to conform with the face 54 of the track and the rear or inner end is shaped to conform to the configuration of slot 26, whereby, when the plug is in place, the rear of the plug 3 V aligns with the walls of slot 26 to provide a substantially continuous trackway for the glides, and the face 52 is substantially aligned with the face 54 of the track.

The plug is secured in positionrby slipping it into gate 40 and applying suitablemeans, such as screw56, to fix same to track 12. Hole'58' may beprovided in the plug for this purpose. The screw 56 may be one of the screws which fixes track 12 to a ceiling or the like, or a separate screw, as shown.

I prefer to cover the plug by fixing to the face 52 thereof nameplate 60, which may bear trademark indicia and the like. The plug provides a Way of conveniently afiixing the nameplate to the door and at the same time it is rendered inconspicuous by said nameplate. V

The slot or gate 40 may be formed at any desirable position along the side of the track 12, preferably where the nameplate may be readily observed. The plug and nameplate may be formed out of any desired and suitable materials, but in a preferred form, I form the plug and nameplate as an integral unit out of suitable metallic or plastic substances.

It will be appreciated that the installation and subsequent removal of, for instance, a folding door of the type illustrated, are greatly simplified by applying my. invention to the track 12. .Thus, the track 12 may be secured in place in the conventional manner without 'having to first thread the glides in the slot 26; after the track is in place, one then may conveniently thread the glides into the slot 26 through the gate or slot 40, and afterwards slip the plug in place, fixing same in position by the screw 56. When it becomes desirable to remove the door 8 for adjustment, cleaning or other purposes, the

plug 46 may be removedafter withdrawing the screw 56, and the glides unthreaded through the slot or gate 40'.

While the invention has been described in connection with an overhead track for a folding door, I comprehend that it may be applied to tracks. for drapes, room di-' viders, curtains, and the like. Moreover, the invention is not restricted to use on overhead tracks,.or tracks having a substantially vertical trackway; rather it may be applied to any trackway from which it is desirable to 4 remove the glides or carriers operable therein from the side thereof, as distinguished from the end thereof.

The foregoing description and the drawing are given merely to explain and illustrate my invention, and the invention is not to be limited thereto, except insofar as the appended claims are so limited, since those skilled in the art who have my disclosure before them will be able to make modifications and variations therein without departing from the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. An overhead track for folding doors and the like comprising an elongate member having a T-shaped slot in its under surface with the base of the T slot opening downwardly and with the side arms of the T slot forming opposed ledges for supporting a hanger guide, and a side gate for the track having a T-shaped slot substantially identical to said first-named T-shaped slot and communicating therewith, and a plug complemental in cross-sectional shape to said last-named T-shaped slot adapted to be removably inserted therein, said plug having a shelf extension at its rear end forming with one of said' opposed ledges a continuous trackway whereby when said plug is in place said one ledge is continuous throughout the length of the track.

' 2. Theinvention of claim 1 wherein said T-shaped slots are in right-angular coplanar relationship.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 23,209 Fridolph Mar. 21, 1950 1 257,637 Bangs May 9, 1882 259,531 Grimm June 13, 1882 276,499 Story Apr. 24, 1883 928,137 Lewis July 13, 1909 1,942,712 Kirsch Jan. 9, 1934 2,671,243 Hakansson Mar. 9, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 815,523 Germany Oct. 1, 1951 843,743 Germany July 14, 1952 

